Philanthropy Races to Heal the Victims of the Tsunamis

More than $400-million has been contributed to U.S. relief groups, but charities face daunting challenges as they help South Asia recover

As people around the world mourned the loss of tens of thousands of lives in the Asian tsunamis, they have been

donating record amounts to nonprofit relief efforts.

In the United States, international aid groups have raised at least $406-million, surpassing the $350-million the federal government has pledged.

A USA Today poll found that at least one-third of American households said they had made a gift to charities working in the 12 countries ravaged by the tsunamis. No other crisis appears to have generated so many charitable donations, except for the September 11, 2001, attacks, when $2.3-billion poured into charity coffers in the year after the terrorists struck.

Many of the donations have been made by foundations and businesses. At least $150-million in cash and products have been donated by businesses, according to a Chronicle tally.

But not all the gifts have been from big donors. Schoolchildren, as well as churches and many other community groups, have been holding bake sales, car washes, potluck suppers, and other fund-raising events.

At Mercy Corps, in Portland, Ore., fund raisers say a homeless man came into the charity’s headquarters and asked how the group was responding to the catastrophe. After he learned about the charity’s work, he rolled up his sleeves and pulled out all the money he had: $67.

“Please make sure it goes to homeless people in Asia,” he told the organization’s employees, who say that amount is exactly how much it costs, on average, to shelter one family that lost its home in the tsunamis.

Using the Bully Pulpit

The private fund-raising effort has gotten a big push from Washington. President Bush, who said he had already given $10,000 of his own money to relief groups, enlisted two former presidents — his father, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton — to raise money for humanitarian groups. And Mr. Clinton announced last week that his foundation would join with Unicef to raise $45-million for a project to provide clean water to people in the regions hard hit by the tsunamis, as a way to reduce the risk that harmful diseases will spread.

Congress has also taken action to spur more donations: Just days after the catastrophe, lawmakers voted to allow people who donate to relief causes this month the option of claiming the gift on their 2004 returns instead of on their 2005 returns.

Not everyone — even those at relief groups — thought the extension of the tax deadline was a wise idea. Becky Graninger, vice president of direct marketing at World Relief, in Baltimore, said she was troubled by the new law because it may benefit relief groups at the expense of other charities. As donors give more to the relief groups, she and other fund raisers fear, they might give less to international groups concentrating on humanitarian crises outside South Asia, and to organizations working on causes unreleted to relief or development.

President Bush sought to put that concern to rest last week by urging donors to consider their gifts to relief causes as extra donations, and askingAmericans not to shortchange the organizations that they have long supported.

On following pages, The Chronicle explores how charities, foundations, and donors across the United States are helping the people of South Asia recover — and looks at the challenges to come.

Among the highlights:

• As relief organizations move out of the emergency-response phase of helping people in South Asia, they are seeking ways help the victims deal with the arduous task of rebuilding their societies. One challenge few groups say they have faced before: how to make choices when they have enough money, rather than the usual situation when few donations are available for humanitarian aid. (See article on facing page.) In Sri Lanka, many international groups are already making plans to expand their operations so they can deal with the long-term needs that face the country, while local charities are also springing up.
• Fund raisers at relief groups are trying to figure out how they can build on their successes in raising money, especially by expanding their use of the Internet. A sign of how powerful online giving has become: Save the Children, which previously could not accept a gift bigger than $1,000 through its site, raised its maximum to $25,000 soon after the tsunami disaster and got so many gifts of that size that it hopes to be able to accept donations as large as $50,000 online.
• Despite the scope of the crisis, veteran aid workers say the level of cooperation among nonprofit groups, the United Nations, and the military — groups that often are at odds — has been unprecedented. Still, the challenge is enormous. Patrick C. Johns, who has been working in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, for Catholic Relief Services, said he has never seen so much devastation in his 30-year career providing aid in places like Rwanda and Somalia. “This is the worst I’ve ever seen,” he said. “I’ve never seen such total devastation. I’d say 80 or 90 percent of the people are gone, and those who survived are so scared they will never go back.”